Trends in the epidemiology of acute myocardial infarction in Peru: An analysis of the official SUSALUD records

Objective. To determine the age-standardized rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) events and its trend in recent years. Materials and Methods. An ecological study of secondary data on morbidity in emergency areas of Peruvian hospitals between 2018 and 2023 was conducted. Cases of AMI in adults aged 20 years or older were identified using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes. Age-standardized AMI event rates per 100,000 people were calculated. In addition, the change in event rate between extreme years was calculated, and a Poisson regression was used to estimate the annual percentage change in event rates along with their 95% confidence interval (CI), adjusting for age and calendar year. These rates were stratified by sex and political-administrative regions. Results. 28,088 AMI events were recorded between 2018 and 2023. The national age-standardized rate increased from 22.77 in 2018 to 25.60 per 100,000 people in 2023, with an annual percentage change of 6.72% (95% CI: 4.25-9.25). Men had higher AMI event rates compared to women throughout the study period. In addition, the highest event rates were observed in the Constitutional Province of Callao, San Martin, and Loreto. Conclusions. Our findings provide a better understanding of the epidemiology of AMI in Peru and its evolution in recent years, as well as important data to improve prevention, treatment, and resource distribution strategies for the management of AMI.